Bat flies, ‘Ice’ solid overseas

Caped Crusader does best in U.K.

Warner Bros.’ “The Dark Knight Rises” remained on the beam at the international box office, finishing first for the third straight weekend and adding $66.7 million — a respectable 47% dropoff from its $126.2 million take over the previous sesh. But the Caped Crusader’s dominance hasn’t slowed Fox’s “Ice Age: Continental Drift,” which grossed $33.3 million in its sixth international outing, off just 34% from the $51 million of its previous frame, solidifying the franchise’s massive overseas popularity.

The lastest Batpic has cumed $378.1 million overseas, putting it 49% ahead of “The Dark Knight” at the same point in its run, using current exchange rates. Fox’s fourth “Ice Age” installment, meanwhile, reached $587.6 million, making “Drift” the third-highest grossing toon internationally, behind “Toy Story 3″ ($648 million) and “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” ($691 million).

Germany stands as the toon’s highest-grossing territory, at $53 million in five weeks. China, however, is making a splash, with $40.6 million after just two weeks. Four other territories screening “Drift” have contributed north of $40 million: France, Russia, Mexico and Brazil.

“Dark Knight Rises” has done best so far in the U.K., where it’s grossed $63.9 million, followed by South Korea and Australia (at around $35 million each).

Universal’s R-rated laffer “Ted” trailed “Drift” only slightly over the weekend, collecting $32.8 million, thanks to expansions into major markets like the U.K., where it scored the studio’s second-biggest opening ever with $14.6 million. In Germany, “Ted” debuted in the top spot at $7.2 million, followed by No. 1 openings in Russia ($5.8 million) and Austria ($1.7 million).